Railway cattle-guard.



H. L. CDLLINGS.

RAILWAY CATTLE GUARD.

APPLICATION FILED APR-12,1918.

Patented Oct. 1, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WITNESSES ATTOR NEY co. Puormumm WASNIHGmrv. p. a

H. L. commas.

RAILWAY CATTLE GUARD.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 12, 1918.

1 ,20,40%. Patented Oct. 1, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES ATTORNEY LILMS co, mum-urns wAsmncmM n. c.

To all whom it maycbncern:

ares rams T UFFTFF.

'iEIERBERT incounties, or ADA, GKLAI-IOMA, nssrenon or ONE-HALF To THOMAS J. :KEAHEY, or ADA, OKLAHOMA, AND ONE-FOURTH TO JAKE raouen'roiv, or roar WORTH, TEXAS.

Lasoaoa.

Be it"known that I, HERBERT L. CoLLINes,

a citizen ofth'e United States, residing at Ada, in the county of Pontotoc anclSta-te of Oklahoma,'have invented certain new and useful Improvements in *Railway Cattle- Guards, "of which thefollowing is a specification. This invention relates to mechanically operating gates, andmore especially to those employed 'for guarding railway tracks and which autoinatically return to their set or normal position; and" the object of the invention is to produce a cattle guard'for'railways which will be effective in keeping cattle'ofi" the? line of the track. A further object is toproduceacattle guard of this type which stands normally clearof thei'p'assing trafiic but is automaticallythrowninto active position by the zip proach ofan animalalong thetrackway.

' Other objects will be disclosed in the following specification. and] claims, and reference is made to the drawings, wherein Figure 1 is aplan iew of the device,

Fig. 2 across section on the; line of Fig. V

Fig. 3 a longitudinal "section'on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 1 a section on theline of Fig. 3, and

Figs. 5 and 6 sectional details to ferred to hereinafter.

In the drawings, the rails R are shown as mounted on ties 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, two of which numbered 3 and 4 at the point where the guard is to occur are made longer than the others as seen in Fig. 1, and set deeper in the ground than the others as seen in Fig. 3, thereby producing between them a pocket in the road bed as indicated at 6. Bridging their ends are blocks 7 from which rise standards 8 in whose upper ends at 9 are pivoted arms 10 as best seen in Fig. 2. The standards 8 also carry barriers 11 standing on edge and in alinement with each other, and approaching the rails R as nearly as possible without danger that they will be struck by the steps o t-passing trains. The arms 10 act in the nature of signals as described below, whereas the barriers 11 serve in the capacity of a fence across the track way and have between them a wide opening which must be normally clear so that the train may pass through. The numeral 12 RAILWAY carats-GUARD.

Specification of Iictters Patent.

be r:

Patented ea. 1, rare.

lip iicanoh mea a rn 12, i918. serial No. 228,203.

'designatesthe gate proper, hingedat 13 to a strip 14 upstanding from a plank 15which stands within said pocket 6', and this plank isnormally elevated at its ends by springs 16 as shown. In its extremitiesare eyes 17 connectedby'links 18 with the outer ends of the signal arms 10. The construction is such that when the plank 15 descends within the pocket'as shown in Fig. 6, the gate 12 is caused to move over the corner of'the long tie at and stand upright, and simultaneously both arms are raised to the position shown in dotted linesin Fig. 2. Thus the gate 12 practically fills the gap between the barriers 11 so that-stock may not pass along the track, and the upward movement of the arms 10 (which may be painted white and might even carrya lantern at night) attracts attention and further impedes the progress of stock along the trackway.

The plank 15 is mounted on theinner ends oi two bars 20whi'ch extend through notches 21 in the long tile 3, thence past the extremities of the next tie2 (or several suchif the bars 20be long), andfinallv' are: pivoted as at 22 to the extremities of the tie 1; and these bars maybe connected by boards23 between the ties 2 and 3551s shown These bars may well carry ribs 24 as usual in cattle guards for discouraging cattle from "walking along the trackway. If an animal should step over said ribs and onto the board 23, its weight depresses the pivoted structure and causes the plank 15 to descend against the tension of the springs 16 with the result above described. I have intimated that the approach to this plank may be longer than shown in which case there would be more of the short ties herein indicated by the numeral 2, interposed between the long tie 3 and the remote tie 1 to which the bars 20 are pivoted; but ordinarily I find that quite a few will be sufiicient, and the road bed must be dug out a little as indicated at 6 to allow the bars 20 to descend with the plank and the boards. Even if an animal approaching in what would be an upward direction in Fig. 1 should step over the board 23, when he presses his weight on the plank 15 the result is the same as above described and the gate and the signal arms fly upward in front of him so that his progress along the trackway is checked. As soon as he turns aside and steps off the board or the plank, the parts are restored to their normal position and therefore it is impossible for an animal to trip this device and leave it tripped so that it will be struck by the next approaching train. However, in the rare emergency that this should happen in some way, little or no injury will result because the cow catcher of the locomotive would simply break down the little gate 12 and break off the two arms 10. All parts excepting the hardware will be of wood, and such breakage could be repaired without great expense or labor. As usual with these devices, one is placed across the track at either side of a highway crossing, and animals wandering on the highway will. therefore find it impossible to turn aside and walk in either direction along the trackway.

The foregoing description and the drawings have reference to what may be consid ered the preferred, or approved form of my invention; It is to be understood that I may make such changes in construction and arrangement and combination of parts, materials, dimensions, et cetera, as may prove expedient and fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a railway cattle guard, the combination with standards at opposite sides of the track, barriers fixed to said standards and approaching the rails, and arms pivoted in the upper ends of said standards with their inner portions normally depressed to leave the track clear; of a horizontal plank vertically movable in a pocket between ties and alined with said standards, links connecting Copies of this patent may be obtained for its extremities with the outer ends of said arms, springs connecting the plank with said standards and holding the former normally raised, bars supporting said plank and extending under certain ties and pivoted to a remote tie, and a board secured over said bars between ties and adapted to be depressed by an approaching animal.

2. In a cattle guard, the combination with barriers at opposite sides of the trackway, a plank 'verticallysmovable between ties adjacent to said barriers, a strip on said plank, and a gate hinged thereto and adapted by contact with one of said ties to be thrown upright when the plank descends; of yielding means for holding said plank normally elevated and depressing it by the approach of an animal along the track.

3. In a cattle guard, the combination with a pair of standards at opposite sides of the track, fixed barriers carried by them and in alinement with each other, signal arms pivoted to said standards with their inner ends normally depressed out of the path of a passing train, and a gate normally lying upon the ties between the rails; of a plank between ties and vertically movable in alinement with said standards, connections between it and the arms and between it and the gates for raising them all when the plank descends, and means for depressing the plank by the approach of an animal along the trackway. l

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HERBERT L. COLLINGS.

Witnesses:

R. E. BLANKS, Nnnnm MOORE.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

